ROLLINSFORD — As the cold weather starts to creep in, the Rollinsford School Board is looking at options to keep the grade school students and staff warm.

At a meeting Wednesday night, the board agreed that repairing the school’s cracked main boiler is the best option at this time.

Integrated Building Energy Associates (IBEA) completed a comprehensive facilities analysis of the school at the end of June and presented their findings of deficiencies to the School Board on Sept. 19.

An immediate concern for the school, touched upon in the report, is the need to replace or repair the school’s main boiler. Superintendent Jeni Mosca and Grade School Principal Kate Lucas set out to gather options on the school’s best course of immediate action.

“We have to do something to get through the winter,” said Mosca.

At the meeting addressing IBEA’s report, two specialists outlined the importance of energy efficiency as a cost-saving measure for the school and that even if a new boiler was installed it wouldn’t address the school’s lack of weatherization and inefficient temperature control system.

The School Board was hesitant to agree to repair the current boiler when it was purchased in 2004 and has already cracked twice before. However, choosing to purchase a new system without having decided on bigger picture items yet may come at a large waste of money.

Lucas explained the boiler keeps cracking because of the outdated backflow system.

“The water comes back very cold after it’s pumped through. When it comes back too cold, because of our ancient system, it’s hitting something that’s really hot, which eventually leads to cracks,” she said.

In addition to the need to repair or replace the school’s main boiler, the backup boiler has also been neglected. Although Lucas says it’s in great shape, it needs $3,000 of maintenance.

“We have to have a backup and it needs repairs, regardless,” said Mosca.

The four options she and Lucas gathered for the board’s immediate consideration included repairing the current main boiler at a cost of $17,000, installing a new wood pellet boiler at an estimated cost of $45,000 a year for the next 20 years, replacing the cracked boiler with a similar new boiler for approximately $37,000 or switching to a new propane system at an estimated cost of $52,000.

Mosca said pellet would be nice, but wouldn’t be a good immediate solution as it wouldn’t be in conjunction with the larger diagnostic report.

“What’s the easiest way to take care of it currently?” She asked of the board.

Although Option 2, fixing the cracked boiler, is the most temporary of the solutions, the board voted to gather estimates for that option.

“We’re throwing money out the window either way because of the draft,” said Kunz.

The board also passed a motion to have three unbiased firms look at the facilities report and propose a course of action for the larger picture of needed upgrades and repairs to include estimated dollar amounts.

With budget season approaching, the board discussed their desire to hire a facilities manager.

“The (IBEA) report is overwhelming. That person should be doing that,” he said of a facilities manager. “I think we need it now more than ever.”

Lucas agreed that without a facilities expert, they have been acting reactively to problems rather than proactively.

Lastly, the board voted to retain 2.5 percent of the school’s unreserved fund balance, totaling $111,614. The funds will be placed in an emergency account and the total amount will be used in the tax rate setting process for the town.

Rollinsford residents voted to allow the school to maintain up to 2.5 percent of their unreserved fund balance on Article 10 of the March 15 ballot.